CONSERVATIVES TACKLE TIGERS

CONSERVATIVES TACKLE TIGERS

At the present furious rate at which the Conservatives are accomplishing things in this first session of the 39th Parliament of Canada, everything they set out to do should be finished before the other parties are able to even organize their thoughts.

In the short time that this government has been in power, it has reinforced support for our beleaguered and neglected military, it has taken the legalization of pot proposal and rolled it up, shown leadership on the world stage, begun to reverse the damage done in our international affairs, and now, it has played catch up with most of the rest of the world in regards to the Tamil Tigers.

I am elated that we finally have some politicians who know where they stand and find absolutely no need to try and explain it nor to apologize for it. If this keeps up we will soon find that the rest of the world is once again trying to emulate us.

The Tamil Tigers is a terrorist group striving for an independent state within Sri Lanka. Since 1972, the group, in various forms, has waged a battle with the Sri Lankan government. In 1983, it began an armed campaign in a conflict that has seen more than 64,000 die by some estimates.

The previous Liberal government had made it illegal for the Tiger’s to raise money in Canada after 9-11 as part of its anti-terrorism efforts. Many had criticized the Liberals for not banning the organization outright. asking how the government could link the money raised to terrorism and not the organization itself. Indeed, the rationale is questionable at best. One of those people was Stockwell Day, our current Minister of Public Safety. Today, Mr. Day was clear. “The decision to list the LTTE is long overdue and something the previous government did not take seriously enough to act upon,” said Minister Day. “Our government is clearly determined to take decisive steps to ensure the safety of Canadians against terrorism.”

Many Canadians of Tamil descent have told of Tiger agents extorting money from new Canadians who still have relatives in Sri Lanka. The Tamilese immigrants have been told to “skip meals” if they had to, but that they should be willing to help out back home. Others have told stories of being advised to re-mortgage their homes to assist. Some have felt compelled to do so, fearing for the safety of loved ones left behind in Sri Lanka.

While the allegations can be found from several sources, the Canadian Tamil Congress has stated that they have had no reports of any such activities.

It must be noted that the Liberal decision was made with input from the Canadian Tamil Congress, the self-appointed Tamil spokesgroup which some Tamils adamantly deny speaks for them. The previous Canadian Tamil representation was made by the Federations of Associations of Canadian Tamils, or FACT. FACT was deemed to be a front for the Tigers organization by both Canadian and American authorities. Many within the Tamil community say that the only thing that has changed is the name and that the new Canadian Tamil Congress is yet another front for the Tamil Tigers.

It seems that the new government in Ottawa has done its homework, or is at least willing to make sound decisions based on the intel that is provided by organizations such as CSIS and the RCMP. After all, if we won’t heed the advice of our intelligence sector, what use is it to even have it?